Six Miles to Charleston (12 page)

Obviously this witness had his doubts to the guilt of the Fishers.

While all this was occurring, Attorney John Blake White noted that the hangman was poised on a ladder, “hovering like a vampire” over the couple. He was engaged in some last-minute adjustment of the ropes.

G.-S. states that in her last moments, Lavinia looked out at the multitude gathered. He states that he was in a few yards of the scaffold and had a fair view of her countenance at the end. He stated that he believed that grief, not guilt, was depicted upon her face. He stated that she seemed filled with woe and burdened with sorrow. As he watched, serenity seemed to descend upon her and a smile came upon her face in contrast to the proceedings surrounding her. “She look'd [sic] like patience on a monument, Smiling at grief.” Perhaps she had come to the realization that her death was inevitable and God granted her peace. More so perhaps she was in a state of shock and disbelief and had succumbed to its effects on her mind.

The hangman descended and placed the caps over the Fishers' faces. The pair stood trembling upon the platform for a brief moment longer. A private signal was given by the sheriff and the platform gave way. The couple dropped and all was quiet and still except for their loose white garments fluttering on the breeze.

In the final portion of his letter regarding the execution, G.-S. would write, “the wretched sufferers have gone to that tribunal from whence there is no appeal, and there their guilt or innocence will plainly appear. Human judgement [sic] will be of no further as regards their conduct, for there they will be sure to meet with J
USTICE
.”

The following day the
Charleston Courier
reported on the execution. It reported that, at a little past 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the husband and wife embraced each other up on the platform for the last time. The signal was given and the drop fell. Lavinia died without a struggle or a groan, but it was some minutes before John expired and ceased to struggle. After hanging the usual time, their bodies were taken down and taken to Potter's Field, where they were buried. The reporter's final comments were that “May the awful example strike deep into their hearts; and may it have the effect intended, by deterring others from pursuing those vicious paths which end in infamy and death.”

John Fisher was only twenty-nine years old; Lavinia was just twenty-eight.

On June 6, 1820, William Heyward was denied a new trial at the constitutional court and sentenced to death by Judge Gantt. His execution was to take place on June 30, 1820, but he was also given a respite by the governor to make his peace with God. On August 11, 1820, at 1:00 p.m., William Heyward was also hanged. He too went to his death proclaiming his innocence. Reverend Mund attended Heyward's last moments, and the event was witnessed by several hundred spectators.

Despite having a sordid past, Heyward did have a family. William Heyward left behind a wife and three small children, all under the age of four.

C
HAPTER
8

The Method

D
EATH BY
H
ANGING

It has indeed been said that “marriage, like hanging, goes by destiny;” but the destiny, I conceive is the only point of similitude between the two predicaments.
—
The Autobiography of Jack Ketch,
1835

If death is the common destiny between marriage and hanging, then John and Lavinia Fisher are the perfect examples of that common destiny. John “Jack” Ketch was an English executioner used by King Charles II in the late 1600s. He had become famous because of the way he had performed his duties. He also became infamous for the same reason. Executions were supposed to be quick and merciful. During one beheading in 1683, Ketch had to make five strokes with his axe and then finally use a knife to remove the head of the person being executed. The condemned suffered greatly. Although Ketch made several apologies and stated that he had been interrupted while taking aim, it was rumored that Ketch had acted more sadistically than clumsily. Regardless of his fame or his infamy, his name lived on.

As one could easily surmise, the executioner was probably not a well-liked individual. His identity was concealed with a mask while he carried out his grisly tasks. It was the name, Jack Ketch, given and used to identify all executioners to protect their true identity. It was a name that Attorney John Blake White used repeatedly to identify the hangman in his essay.

As a form of execution five different types of methods were developed: suspension, the short drop, the standard drop, the long drop and a mechanized form of hanging known as the upright jerker. Each of these had their pluses and their setbacks.

Suspension hanging was exactly as it sounds. A person was tied to the rope, and the gallows allowed the condemned to be raised upward and suspended. This was a slow and agonizing death by strangulation.

The short drop was done by placing a fixed rope around the condemned's neck and placing them on a cart, horse or even a stool and having that said item pulled out from underneath. Again this usually resulted in a death by strangulation.

The standard drop was used pretty much as the primary method during the nineteenth century. It involved a standard drop of between four and six feet. The gallows were equipped with a trap door, and as the door fell open, the condemned dropped the standard distance. This was usually sufficient to break the condemned's neck and was a more “humane” and immediate death in most cases. Remember that this was a “standard.” The executioner did not account for variations in weight or height. The “standard” person may drop and have his neck immediately broken. A smaller person may drop and strangle to death. A heavy person of three hundred pounds or more may drop and be totally decapitated due to his own weight, inertia and gravity. Things often got messy with this form, but it was the most used. It is the type that was used on John Fisher, Lavinia Fisher and William Hayward.

The long drop and the upright jerker came much later. The long drop was developed as a method to improve upon the standard drop. In this form, a person's individual height and weight were taken into account in order to determine how much fall would be sufficient to render a broken neck and not a decapitation. Unfortunately, this did not come about until 1872.

The upright jerker was a mechanized form of hanging used to make things a little more efficient than the others. A machine dropped a weight attached to one end of the rope while the other was tied around the condemned's neck. Of course the machine did not take into account height and weight. If you were extremely tiny it sent you flying. If you were obese it just sent your head flying. If you were extremely obese it may just drag you slowly upward and allow you to remain hanging, suspended, until you strangled to death.

By the time the upright jerker was created and being used, it was more of an issue of quantity than quality in executions. It was used in the Old City Jail in Charleston and was a favorite—messy as it was.

Regardless of the method of hanging, prisoners were left dangling at the end of the rope for a minimum of one hour. This was the usual amount of time allotted to make sure the condemned was dead. If a message was being sent to the community, they were often left hanging longer so more people would have the opportunity to view them.

There were also several knots used, but the most used was the hangman's knot or noose knot. It was considered the most efficient because the manner in which it was tied made the knot very large. The standard was to place the knot under the left ear and as the condemned reached the end of the drop the jerk against the large knot was sufficient to break the neck. If the hangman was sadistic or held a grudge, he could position the knot a little to the left or right and the neck would not break. The condemned would die a slow death of strangulation. This would be a good reason not to say anything that might anger your executioner. You may literally come to the end of your rope and find the knot in the wrong place.

In White's recollection of the execution, it is quite obvious that the hangman had been quite the experienced executioner. By the amount of alcohol he craved, it was obvious the weight of those many executions did not rest well upon him. Regardless, this was obviously not his first execution.

White also noted that as John Fisher was making his proclamation of innocence and claims against those who condemned him, the hangman was on the ladder engaged in working with the ropes.

In the account of the execution in the
Charleston Courier
, it states in regard to Lavinia that “She died without a struggle or a groan.” Obviously the hangman showed mercy on Lavinia and the standard drop and hangman's knot sufficiently broke her neck.

The noose traditionally has thirteen twists. If a person was “lucky,” he may get nine, one twist for each life, just like a cat.
Courtesy of Kayla Orr.

The
Charleston Courier
account in regards to John Fisher's death was not as “pleasant”: “it was some minutes before he expired and ceased to struggle.” For whatever the reason, John Fisher's neck did not break. Some accounts say he struggled for up to seventeen minutes before dying. Obviously the hangman did not position the knot appropriately. Lavinia suffered a quick and immediate execution with the snap of her neck; John slowly suffered and died of strangulation at the end of a rope.

Maybe it was something in the words he said. Remember, in the end, he swore his innocence and accused others. “I swear, I am innocent. May the Redeemer of the World plead for those who have sworn away my life.”

Lavinia Fisher is said to have been the first woman executed in this country. Actually many women were executed in the Salem Witch trials. This is where the confusion of Lavinia having been a witch came from. There are no indications that she was.

Many have stated that the fact that she used oleander to poison her victims points to the fact she was Wiccan and therefore a witch since Wiccans use herbs and flowers in their “potions.” There are several problems with that theory. First of all, as we have found, there is no documentation that she used oleander as a poison on anyone. That is a complete fabrication. Second, practically everyone used herbs back then as remedies, making the entire country Wiccan in one form or another. Third, and most important, the Wiccan Code says to harm no one. The Wiccan Rede states, “These Eight words the Rede fulfill: An Ye Harm None, Do what ye Will.” That excludes anyone who would use oleander to murder another person. There is no proof Lavinia Fisher was Wiccan or a witch.

Lavinia Fisher is also said to have been the first woman hanged for murder within the United States. Actually, Margaret Hatch was hanged on June 24, 1633, for murdering her own child in Virginia. Mrs. Hatch tried to avoid her hanging by claiming pregnancy. A group of midwives was gathered together and a “Jury of Matrons” was organized. The defendant was determined not to be pregnant and subsequently hanged. Margaret Hatch's execution precedes Lavinia Fisher by 187 years.

C
HAPTER
9

The Allegations

C
OLONIAL
J
USTICE VERSUS
C
RIMINAL
J
USTICE

Now the fact that all three proclaimed their innocence all the way to the gallows and the fact that John Fisher blamed someone is an intriguing notion. The next two chapters will explore the possibility that the three were telling the truth. It will also explore what others may have had to gain by framing them.

We have already seen that there were problems in the trials and in the colonial justice system as a whole. Now let's take an opportunity to look at a few more issues. Let's start with physical identification.

Lavinia Fisher was said to be gorgeous. That is how she has lived on in legend. By the time she spent a year in jail and reached the gallows, she was described as woe worn and not a handsome woman. In David Ross's statement, he identified Lavinia but also states there was a second woman involved in his assault, quite possibly Jane Howard, the other female arrested in Colonel Cleary's raid. In John Peoples's statement, he was attacked by “a tall, stout woman.” This was two hours after the Ross assault. Remember that he did not know any of his assailants. When Cleary arrived the following day, he arrested both Lavinia and Jane Howard. Could Jane Howard have been the tall, stout woman that assaulted John Peoples? Surely if Lavinia was as beautiful as was said then that would have been an identifier.

John Fisher was twenty-eight years of age. He was described as six feet tall, tall, slim, fair-skinned with dark hair and eyes. In one account, he was said to be knock-kneed.

In the 1800s, diseases such as rickets were common. We now know that left untreated this disease can cause the legs to turn inward to where the knees bend toward each other, and in severe cases, touch. In some cases being knock-kneed is hereditary. Braces can be used to correct these deformities, but they were not available then.